YOUNG SAVAGES Music Composed and Conducted by DAVID AMRAM INTRADA Special Collection Vol. 261

The 1961 film The Young Savages was David Amram’s first film score and offered him an opportunity to use fully his varied talents. Amram is a gifted classical composer, also a talented jazz musician, and the score reflects his outstanding ability in both areas. Intrada's premiere release of this score is a reissue of the original Columbia LP program. As originally conceived, "side one" contains the film’s jazz compositions, and "side two" contains the sensitive “Theme” and compositions for full orchestra. The director and producer allowed Amram to use jazz as an integral part of the picture, rather than employing it to underscore violence, sadism or narcotics—which is usually the case in pictures of the time. Jazz is heard not in the fight scenes but during sequences that showed the neighborhoods where the boys lived.

The significance of David Amram’s powerful score for The Young Savages is hard to overstate. Besides introducing the musical world to his motion-picture composing skills in 1961, it showcased the melding of two sizable idioms of then modern music: jazz and contemporary symphonic. With skills developed from theater composition, jazz performance (including the decidedly non-jazz sound of the French horn) and a close association with the New York Philharmonic, first under Dimitri Mitropoulos and later Leonard Bernstein, Amram became a unique voice in American music that still resonates today.

The Young Savages was a powerful picture about juvenile delinquency and crime in the streets of New York, and one man’s attempts to bring about justice and peace amidst the turmoil. David Amram mirrors the conflicts and optimism perfectly with his score—both highly charged and highly melodic. Worthy of note here is the playing time of nearly 42 minutes, a generous length for soundtrack albums of the day. The album is newly mastered by Sony from the original Columbia stereo album master tapes assembled in 1961.

With all respect, $20 is steep for an album with no extras. If there were no extra film tracks available, they could have either paired it with another album or sold it for $11.99. I paid far less than $20 for the LP.

several tracks sound alot like Manchurian Candidate. Some good atonal stuff; something to order when I find another release I want. The runtime should be 41 minutes, not 46 minutes, unless there's hidden tracks or 30 second gaps? I asked Amram if his unused score for "7 Days in May" was available, but he has no interest in promoting what he sees as a "failure."

First I went to Intrada and had to search for this new release, then the sample wouldn't open when called. I think I prefer the old site design.

Just checked the Intrada site and THE YOUNG SAVAGES & TRANSFORMERS were the first two titles I saw - top of the page front & center in the rotating banner. Scrolled down the front page and there it was again under Featured Products.

First I went to Intrada and had to search for this new release, then the sample wouldn't open when called. I think I prefer the old site design.

Just checked the Intrada site and THE YOUNG SAVAGES & TRANSFORMERS were the first two titles I saw - top of the page front & center in the rotating banner. Scrolled down the front page and there it was again under Featured Products.

Not me, Disney Magic, I had to go through the menu to new releases, then to that new releases page, then to the album I was interested in. The I had to choose the tracklist tab, after that I tried to load a few of the m3u samples mrls and it gave me an "unable to open file" at Intrada. Maybe tomorrow.